Pacific Western Technologies, LTD

PWT helps develop database to support regulation decision-making

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:46:07 +0000

PWT participated in the development of a cutting-edge database tool for environmental investigation and remediation support in collaboration with the URS Corporation, the General Services Administration, and Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment.

The Integrated Environmental Data Management System (IEDMS) was developed for the GSA at the Denver Federal Center (DFC) to perform a suite of data management and analysis functions. The most unique of these functions is the ability to clarify regulatory decision-making with data that are at or below reporting limits.

Environmental investigation and remediation can generate massive amounts of data that must be managed and analyzed to support regulatory decisions regarding environmental cleanup levels. A complex challenge common to types of projects involves data levels that are above minimum detection limits (MDLs) and below reporting limits (RLs). This can leave a regulatory “gray area” where the data aren’t verifiable enough to substantiate cleanup. The IEDMS was created to be able to verify this type of data.

The DFC’s unique manufacturing and research history, combined with its current potential for use, resulted in the challenge to process and analyze difficult-to-characterize data that would satisfy stringent regulatory criteria. The IEDMS provides data verification and analysis at the lowest limits of data detection to enhance complex regulatory decision-making at the DFC.

Two years of collaboration among the developing parties resulted in the creation of logic flow chart software that verifies data to a degree that “off-the-shelf” environmental data management products can’t. After verification, the system can then manage and analyze the data to support the DFC’s regulatory remediation parameters.

In addition to its primary function, the IEDMS also allows users to produce data reports from common pre-programmed queries, run statistical calculations from single sampling events to multiple time/set parameters, identify geographic data relationships and support GIS shapefiles to assist with geographic services support, and produce a variety of custom graphics and reports that can be exported into other commonly used applications.

Ding-Wen Hsu

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:32:54 +0000

Hsu is a businesswoman, and leader of Colorado’s Asian and Pacific Island communities. She is president of Pacific Western Technologies Ltd., an information technology, environmental/facility management services company. Hsu was the founding mother of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, designed to build bridges of awareness, knowledge, and understanding between the diverse Asian Pacific communities. She also is co-founder of the International Multi-Cultural Institute. Hsu has endowed a scholarship, along with her husband, at Regis University to assist low-income Asian students. She is a National Fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute, and created the Asian and Pacific Islander Emerging Leaders Program.

PWT’s Intern is leaving her mark on the animals now…

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:19:32 +0000

Content Coming Soon.

PWT welcomes new GSA employees to the PWT family!

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:13:27 +0000

PWT, teaming with the Arcanum Group, has been awarded a five-year contract to provide comprehensive administrative and technical support services to the General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Region 8.

The Public Buildings Service provides building leasing and management services to the civilian federal government, including more than 16 million square feet of space in the 6 states of Region 8.

The team’s 90 employees provide contracting, landscape design, graphic arts, project management, administrative support, and real estate services. PWT will employ 36 employees on the contract. Welcome to the PWT Team!

Ed Soulsby’s devotion to his annual Christmas display

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:05:04 +0000

Ed Soulsby’s devotion to his annual Christmas display and his generosity of all proceeds going to the Colorado Food Bank.

Here are links to December, 2009 articles describing the spectacle: Article, Another Article, a short video from last year’s display.

PWT Expands Helena Office

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:47:01 +0000

PWT’s Montana office has moved to 54 North Last Chance Gulch, Helena, to accommodate three new employees supporting additional EPA Remedial Action Contract 2 Work Assignments and other additional clientele in Montana.

PWT Wins GSA, Fort Carson Contracts

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:45:47 +0000

PWT, as a team member with prime contractor the Arcanum Group, was awarded a five-year contract to provide comprehensive administrative and technical support services to the General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Region 8. The Public Buildings Service provides building leasing and management services to the civilian federal government nationwide. GSA Region 8 manages more than 16 million square feet of space in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota. The more than 90 employees on this contract will work at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood providing contracting, landscape design, graphic arts, project management, administrative support, and real estate support services. The contract runs through September 2016.

PWT was awarded the Hazardous Material Control Center contract for the Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs. PWT supports Fort Carson’s mission by acquiring and managing hazardous materials needed for base operations, with the additional goals of improving cost efficiency, reducing public health risks, and improving environmental stewardship methods associated with the use of these specialized materials. The contract runs through September 2014.

Community Service

sstephenson — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:48:14 +0000

On August 13, PWT employees had a party and a purpose. The PWT summer picnic was at Clement Park in Littleton, but before the party, several employees helped clean and paint weathered picnic tables and benches and picked up trash at the park. Participants included Levi Todd, Dorthea Hoyt, Dan Zigich, Robin Witt, Brian Witt, Tai-Dan Hsu, Chuck Champion, Zac Champion, and Diane Richter. Photo, front to back: Robin Witt, Diane Richter, and Chuck Champion.

Innovative Cover Design Construction Completed Successfully

sstephenson — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:29:37 +0000

Much of the remediation at RMA is clean-up and on-site disposal of hazardous waste. In the U.S. there are strict requirements for how that waste is disposed and covered. Methods that use synthetic covers have been the accepted standard, but at RMA an innovative alternative cover system was developed by the Army, with detailed involvement by EPA including engineering support and technical analysis from PWT and geotechnical/civil engineering expertise from PWT partners Steve Dwyer and Jorge Zornberg under the leadership of Dorthea Hoyt. This innovative solution underwent eight years of design, testing, and negotiations with regulatory agencies, and construction of 453 acres of the “RCRA-equivalent Covers” was completed between 2005 and 2010.

The professional publication, Civil Engineering, published this paper in January 2011. See the published paper.

The CEO Corner

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:48:18 +0000

10 Tips to Find Happiness at Work

Throw Out Labels

We spend most of our lives instantly judging things that happen to us. It’s raining: Bad. No bonus this year: Very bad. The boss is out of town: Very good. Author of Happiness At Work Srikumar Rao, Ph.D., says you can boost your sense of calm by turning off the mental labels. If you decide something is bad, it most likely will be, he says.

Let It Go

When something throws you off, being able to let it go quickly will exponentially increase your happiness at work. The ability to move on–resilience–enables you to handle work challenges with composure and strength. Instead of focusing on how bad a situation is, focus on how to fix it or the next step.

Write a To-Do List

It’s hard to feel resilient when you also feel like you have no power over your work day. You can take some of that control back by writing a to-do list and completing tasks in that order. Also, limiting distractions by scheduling times to check e-mail or social networking sites will help keep you on task and feeling productive.

Focus and Engage

“The current workforce is like the cast of the Night of The Living Dead, says Rao. Disengaged worker-zombies do nothing for the company or for individual morale. If you are able to get excited about your work and focus on it with full attention, time will go by faster and the experience will be much more pleasant.

Quiet Mental Chatter

A constant stream of negative thoughts sends many workers into a downward spiral of unhappiness. Quiet the chaos by redirecting your thoughts. Think of a positive memory and create a mental image of it. The next time you have an idle moment, instead of surfing the Web, draw up this mental screensaver. Replay this in order to reset your mind and scale back the negative.

Find Restorative Time

Workplaces are stressful and you need to cope. Set aside some time each day to recharge. Taking a peaceful walk at lunch rather than mindlessly eating at your desk will restore calm. Maybe a warm bath in the evening or fun book for the commute are your fix-its. Experiment and find what works for you.

Connect To Your Values

People who feel more connected to the company’s mission and feel like their work is valuable or meaningful are more likely to be happy on the job. If you begin to feel like your work is meaningless, look at the big picture: Work for a pharmaceuticals company? Think of the lives being saved. Or, consider how showing up each day aligns with your personal values. The money you earn supports your life outside of work, and whether that’s your family or a hobby, it’s a good reason to keep coming in with a smile.

We’re The Same

It’s easy to put people–colleagues, bosses, clients–into categories. People I don’t like; people I do like. Me vs. them. A simple way to make work relationships more pleasant is by finding common ground. Consider what makes you similar to your co-workers rather than different and the dynamics of the relationship will change. Social interaction play a huge part in your happiness on the job, so it should prove a good investment of your time and energy.

Feel Compassion for a Toxic Boss

The No. 1 reason employees leave a company is because of a bad boss, says Rao. And you’re likely to have worked for one at some time in your life. See a boss for who he or she really is, he advises, and feel compassion for them: “You have to put up with him or her a couple hours a week, and he/she has to put up with themselves their whole life.” Rao suggests picturing a toxic boss as a child having a temper tantrum. When you remember the negativity is all about them, not you, you’ll be better able to shrug it off.

Switch Off Once You Leave Work

You are already at work a third of your time, so do not continue to keep it buzzing in your head during your supposed free time. Mentally say good bye to your work space the moment you leave for home.

Learn to have more fun at work. Laugh more and chill out. Perform with a more fun orientated approach.

Article from Forbes Magazine – Jenna Goudreau

As I continue to look at the concepts related to happiness I have found this article from the Daily Om and wanted to share this with the employees of PWT:

April 12, 2011, Bamboo
A Reason to Smile
Five Minutes to Happiness

It can be so easy to get caught up in the rigors of modern life that we tend to forget that happiness need not come with stipulations. Happiness becomes something we must schedule and strive for — a hard-won emotion — and then only when we have no worries to occupy our thoughts. In reality, overwhelming joy is not the exclusive province of those with unlimited time and no troubles to speak of. Many of the happiest people on earth are also those coping with the most serious challenges. They have learned to make time for those simple yet superb pleasures that can be enjoyed quickly and easily. Cultivating a happy heart takes no more than five minutes. The resultant delight will be neither complex nor complicated, but it will be profound and will serve as a reminder that there is always a reason to smile.

So much that is ecstasy-inducing can be accomplished in five minutes. Alone, we can enjoy an aromatic cup of our favorite tea, take a stroll through the garden we have created, write about the day’s events in a journal, doodle while daydreaming, or breathe deeply while we listen to the silence around us. In the company of a good friend or treasured relative, we can share a few silly jokes, enjoy a waltz around the room, play a fast-paced hand of cards, or reconnect through lighthearted conversation. The key is to first identify what makes us dizzyingly happy. If we do only what we believe should bring us contentment, our five minutes will not be particularly satisfying. When we allow ourselves the freedom to do whatever brings us pleasure, five minutes out of 14 wakeful hours can brighten our lives immeasurably.

It is often when we have the least free time or energy to devote to joy that we need to unwind and enjoy ourselves the most. Making happiness a priority will help you find five minutes every day to indulge in the things that inspire elation within you. Eventually, your happiness breaks will become an established part of your routine. If you start by pursuing activities you already enjoy and then gradually think up new and different ways to fill your daily five minutes of happiness, you will never be without something to smile about.